A/N: In chapter 2 I had mentioned that Neal's somewhat importance was going to be included in chapter 4 and although he was in chapter 4, that's not all I had planned for him. The reason I didn't write it there was because it didn't work with the pacing so Neal is in this chapter as well. Don't worry! I know a lot of you aren't afraid to tell me how much you hate Neal and don't want him to be in this story. I understand that. I do like Neal (at times) as a character all by himself, but I definitely don't like him with Emma. In any case, I'm sure you'll appreciate how Regina handles him, which is the real reason why I added him into this story the way that I have (aside from the fact that he's PART of the reason I believe Emma has abandonment and trust issues.)
Anyway, on with the story! :)
That Holiday Magic
Chapter 5
The car ride back to the mansion was as silent as their exit from the Sheriff's station and though it had been awkward, it didn't last past the porch. Just as they were all about to step inside the house, the silence was broken by none other than Henry and things carried on as normal as possible from there.
"How come you were locked up," Henry asked Emma as she, Regina, and himself walked into the dining room.
"I..." Emma almost barreled through the truthful explanation, but stopped herself to look over at Regina for permission on how much information to divulge.
Regina seemed completely taken aback by the similarity between eighteen year old Emma and twenty-nine year old Emma in that moment. It seemed so out of character for the teen, but there the adult seemingly presented. Emma Swan, every bit like the one Regina had gotten to know a little bit more since Neverland – apart from the return of her youth – stood beside her with wide, imploring eyes.
Regina gulped and nodded before she was able to force a small, slightly warm smile.
Emma cleared her throat and turned back to Henry.
"I busted a few windows around town," Emma casually said.
"Mom said you broke things," Henry said in agreement with her statement as he sat down at his place at the dining room table. "Sounds like you had a good time."
"Actually, I didn't," Emma admitted with a frown.
Emma stopped in front of the dining room table and stared at it from one end to the other, lost at where to sit and if she would even be allowed to sit.
"Make yourself comfortable," Regina said when Emma remained frozen in place and hadn't said a word.
Emma turned to look at Regina and noticed the brunette halfway between the dining room and kitchen, her feet on either side of the archway between the two rooms. Though she was grateful to know Regina wanted her to feel comfortable, Emma didn't show it. Instead, she awkwardly shifted on her feet and looked from Regina to the table. She physically tensed and that was the last thing Regina saw before she hesitantly resumed her trip into the kitchen to retrieve the dinner she'd put in the refrigerator before she took Henry and went after Emma.
Emma spent a little less time to scan the table after Regina had made it clear she was more than welcome there, but she still seemed awkward when she finally took a step forward and sat in the seat across from Henry.
"So...what did you use to break the windows," Henry asked while Emma squirmed to find a comfortable position in the chair.
"A bat," Emma flatly stated, casual and indifferent about what she'd done.
"Where did you get the bat?"
Regina walked back into the dining room with the food right when Emma answered.
"I stole it."
Regina set Henry's plate down in front of him and glanced across the table at Emma.
Emma saw the slight, almost parental, warning in Regina's eyes and didn't hesitate to add, "But stealing is bad."
"I'm almost twelve, not five," Henry started. "I know stealing is bad. But if you know it's bad, why did you do it?"
"I wasn't thinking clearly," Emma slowly said as she stumbled over her words, a nervous habit of hers. "And I thought it would help."
"You told Mom it helped," Henry said as he picked up his fork and started to eat what he hadn't been able to finish earlier.
"Yeah."
"Were you lying?"
"No."
"Then why do you sound sad about it?"
"Has anyone told you that you ask a lot of questions," Emma asked and tilted her head to one side as she looked him over as if to study him and his reaction.
Henry flashed a brief nostalgic smile before it faded and he took a bite of his dinner. He nodded as he chewed and waited until after he swallowed before he elaborated.
"You did once ," Henry said as Regina set down her own plate of food in front of the seat between Henry Emma at the head of thee table. "I think Mom has a few times too."
Regina swiftly floated from her place at the table to Emma's and set an already prepared plate in front of the blonde.
"Thank you," Emma said as she looked up at Regina, who stood close enough to eliminate most of Emma's personal space while she leaned partially over the younger woman's shoulder.
Regina blinked away the shock and confusion the emotions in Emma's eyes caused her. Within those green eyes, Reign saw sincerity, warmth, surprise, and what resembled awe. Young Emma appeared more open and readable like a book in comparison to the heavily guarded and severely closed off older version of the blonde.
Suddenly, Regina saw a part of Emma that told the story of how everything had changed for the young-again woman in the years that had passed after Henry's birth.
"Mom, why are you looking at Emma like that," Henry asked with scrunched up eyebrows, confused and curious.
Regina shook her head and snapped out of her silence to look between Emma and Henry.
"No reason," Regina quickly lied and moved away from Emma to take her seat at the table.
Emma watched Regina pick up her utensils and start on her dinner without another word. Still a little dunk, though her attack on local stores and her short time spent behind bars had sobered her up plenty, she smiled a lopsided smile that read both mischievous and genuinely happy.
After dinner, Henry got cozy under a blanket on the couch in the living room with his eyes glued to a Christmas movie that played on TV.
Emma had been only slightly tempted to join Henry when he asked if she wanted to watch a movie with him, but she found her place in the kitchen with Regina. She rocked back and forth on her heels and stepped forward just to step back in some kind of awkward dance while the brunette washed dishes and Emma watched from a few feet behind the other woman. As she continued to dance around and remain quiet, she started to rethink the phrase "found her place" because she honestly doubted she belonged in the kitchen let alone in Regina's house.
"You could always help, dear," Regina said to Emma as she continued to wash dishes, though she kept her back to the younger woman.
"Right," Emma snapped into action and walked up beside Regina.
Emma grabbed one of the dirty plates and moved it from one hand to the other as though she had no idea what to do with it.
Regina finished cleaning off the dish in hand and set it down in the drying rack to her right. She turned toward the left side of the sink and saw Emma pass the dirty plate from hand to hand before she scanned her eyes up from Emma's hands to the teen's eyes.
"Why don't you dry and I'll wash," Regina said as she expectantly held out a hand to take the plate from Emma.
Emma looked up from the plate and met Regina's gaze. She sheepishly smiled and handed the plate over to the woman.
During the dish transfer, Regina spotted the flower tattoo on Emma's left wrist. She'd seen it before on the version of Emma she was used to, adult Emma, and had always assumed the blonde hadn't gotten the tattoo until sometime after Henry was born. Why she assumed that, she would never know because she'd known Emma long enough to understand that the younger woman was a bit of a risk taker – not reckless, but bold. She worried that sometimes her eyes gave away the admiration she felt when Emma showed her leadership role, especially during their Neverland journey. Not only did she get to see Emma take action in a more dire situation and impressively rise to the challenge, but she also had a chance to learn more about the woman's past. She specifically remembered what Emma shared about foster care and what Neal had taught her while the two of them lived on the streets together. Somehow, all of that knowledge added up and Regina knew it would help her figure out how to change Emma back to her adult self, but in that moment she recognized there was more to the story of Emma Swan than she'd already learned.
In hopes of uncovering just what she needed to reverse Emma's spell, Regina decided to ask a question that had nothing to do with the ones she knew she should ask first, if only to clear the air about what took place earlier that day.
"When did you get the tattoo," Regina asked and nodded at the ink flower shaded in with yellow and orange and outlined with thick black.
Emma stood on her right side in front of the drying rack and grabbed a plate and dish towel when Regina had asked the question.
"When I was almost fifteen," Emma shrugged and dried off the plate in hand. Regina chuckled and set another plate in the drying rack. "What about you? Any tattoos?"
"A former Evil Queen who didn't know about electricity, running water, and other modern facets from this world until the eighties? Definitely not."
"Right," Emma slowly drew out the word as she remembered the reality of fairy tales, the moment of realization aging her temporarily to make her appear twenty-nine again. "Wait, so...how old are you?"
Emma stopped drying the plate she had in her possession at that moment and turned her head to look at Regina so she could see the woman when she answered. Her blunt and blurted out question made her look and sound like her currently eighteen year old self once again so when Regina looked at Emma, a little offended by the question, she slowly relaxed into a more calm state.
Emma's magically revisited youth seemed to be the only thing that kept Regina from yelling at the blonde for her age related question like she would have if Emma were technically still twenty-nine.
Instead of biting off Emma's head, something she actually hadn't done in a while, Regina sighed and answered.
"I'm about six years older than your mother so I guess the best answer, one I feel slightly comfortable stating at least, would be 'old enough to be your mother'. Although, since you're currently eighteen, I'm closer to being your...grandmother."
Regina had paused before she bitterly spoke the title "grandmother" as if that word tasted like spoiled milk in her mouth.
Emma wrinkled her nose, but didn't respond in any other negative way.
"And...I guess you actually are my grandmother," Emma started as she slowly made the realization. "If Snow White is my mom and you're the Evil Queen that married her dad, that means you're my step-grandmo– "
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Regina warned, though her tone held no anger or forceful command. It was almost a plea when she flicked her eyes from the sink to Emma.
Emma immediately closed her mouth, but her lips quickly curled up in a smirk.
"Looks like someone's sensitive about her age," Emma teased.
"I am not," Regina argued. "I have no reason to be."
"Really," Emma asked, her smirk still present when she she raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. I'll have you know that biologically I'm still the exact age I was when I enacted the curse plus the amount of time I've lived after you brokethe curse."
"And how old where you then?"
"Early to mid-thirties," Regina proudly said. "There's still plenty this body can do."
Unable to restrain herself, Emma looked Regina up and down after she heard the woman's admission. She not-too-subtly checked Regina out. In fact, she was blatantly obvious about it.
"Just because you're proud of that fact doesn't mean you have to tease me like this," Emma said as her eyes slowly roamed over Regina's breasts up to the woman's chocolate brown eyes.
Regina's heart skipped a beat and her lips parted in shock at Emma's words.
Emma cleared her throat and blushed.
"Sorry, I'm still a little tipsy and kind of...well, I don't want to say, but I will tell you I really liked sitting in your lap today. Also, I want to apologize for that too. You're being nice enough to let me stay here and I sort of attacked you."
Regina stuttered a bit before she found her voice again.
"You may have taken me by surprise, but I'd hardly call that an attack."
"Attack, to me, is any unwanted contact. Are you saying you wanted it?"
"All I'm saying," Regina took her time to correct Emma and ensure she made her point clear. "Is that you weren't rough with me and I'm confident that if I'd specifically told you to stop, you would have."
"Why didn't you say stop?"
Regina let out a tired sigh.
"I tried to push you off. Was that not enough refusal for you," Regina somewhat playful asked.
Hurt flashed across Emma's face, but she quickly hid hit with anger.
"No, that was plenty of rejection. Thank you."
Emma slammed a plate into the drying rack and left the kitchen in a huff.
Regina closed her eyes and heavily leaned on the edge of the sink like it was the only thing that could hold her up at that point.
Emma marched past the living room toward the staircase, but didn't make it past Henry without being stopped.
"Hey, Emma," Henry called out from this spot on the couch. "Will you watch the rest of this movie with me now?"
Emma tried to take a deep breath and mask her anger before she looked at Henry, but she only achieved half of that goal.
"Not right now, kid," Emma bit out as she carelessly threw the words over her shoulder before she continued toward the stairs.
Henry frowned and looked more angry than hurt. When he heard Emma slam the guest room door shut, he loudly called out for Regina.
"Mom!"
A few seconds later, Regina appeared in the living room and looked a little disheveled from the speed at which she responded to him.
"What is it, sweetheart?"
"What did you do," Henry asked in a slightly accusatory tone though his voice wavered toward the end of the question.
"What do you mean?"
"Emma."
"Oh," Regina physically deflated.
"She won't watch this movie with me and wouldn't even look at me when I asked if would join me!"
And in that moment, Regina got to witness her son break right in front of her over something Emma had done.
"Henry, I'm sorry," Regina instantly went into soothing mother mode and hurried over to the couch.
Regina lifted his blanket covered legs and laid them across her lap as she sat down beside him.
"Emma's just...she's going through something and I'm trying to figure out what exactly it is. I'm not doing a very good job, am I.''
She didn't phrase it as a question; not when she though it to be the truth.
Henry picked at the blanket and kept his eyes on the royal blue fleece, on the the verge of tears.
"I know you want Emma to watch this with you, but how about I sit with you instead? I'll even watch whatever comes on after it. The whole thing. How does that sound?"
Henry looked up and when he met his brunette mother's eyes, he slowly smiled.
"Yeah, sounds good."
Regina warmly smiled back at him.
"I love you," she said as she leaned in and kissed his cheek.
"I love you too," he said as she pulled back.
Regina patted Henry's legs over the blanket and sat back.
Henry picked up the remote, which he kept at his side on the couch, and turned up the volume a little.
Regina had to wake Henry up at the end of the second movie, but that was only after the discomfort of falling asleep on the couch sitting up had awoken her. She helped him up the stairs and into bed, let him tuck himself in, and kissed his forehead before she said, "Goodnight."
Once she'd turned off the lights and closed his bedroom door, she headed straight for the guest room.
She knocked her knuckles on the door three times, but didn't wait for a response before she went in.
Emma sat on the bed with her knees to her chest and her hands clasped over her wrists around her ankles. She perked up a little and lifted her chin off her knees to stare straight into Regina's eyes. She looked sad. If Regina stared long enough she could compare Emma's look to the heartbroken one Henry had given her before they watched those holiday movies together.
"I know that whatever made you become eighteen again is serious, but between you and Henry, our son comes first. You really don't know how much you keep hurting him, do you?"
Regina didn't hold back, her anger and frustration evident.
Emma dropped her chin onto her knees again and held herself tighter. With every second that passed, the closer Emma seemed to tears.
Regina instantly softened.
"I get the 'Tough Mom' act you're trying," Emma started. "But I don't need a lecture right now."
"I've tried to be patient with you," Regina said, no longer angry as she walked towered the bed. "I've given you space, I've tried to let you work things out on your own. So far all that's done is lead you to more crime and shutting me out."
Emma's bottom lip started to quiver and she swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Will you tell me what happened today," Regina asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Or at least what I did to upset you...twice?"
A tear fell from Emma's eyes closely followed by another. Emma quickly reached under her glasses and wiped away the tears one by one.
"Did you get your car back," Regina asked as she leaned forward to try and make eye contact with the blonde.
Emma mirthlessly laughed and more tears fell. After a moment, she shook her head and sobbed.
"No," Emma shakily said. "I should have, but–"
Emma cut herself off and wiped away more tears before she turned away from Regina on the bed, still curled up.
"I didn't get the car," Emma finished and tried to sound stronger than she appeared.
"Why?"
Emma sniffled.
"..Neal."
Regina gritted her teeth, her jaw noticeably tense. The mention of Henry's father always managed to set her on edge for several reasons and that time was no exception.
Emma took a deep breath and steeled herself. She forced her tears away again and buried the pain, a bad coping method she relied on throughout the years.
"Did he take the car from you," Regina asked while she watched Emma change from crying teen to composed adult. Though she remained eighteen, she looked closer to her older self in that moment.
"No, I gave it to him," Emma quietly confessed.
"Emma," Regina admonished with disappointment. "You almost had a panic attack because you didn't have your car. Now you have the chance to get it back you just throw it away?"
Emma vehemently shook her head and glared at Regina.
"I didn't throw it away!"
"Then why would you give Neal the car?"
"I just wanted him to go away. He's always there. Everywhere I go. It's not fair!"
"Why isn't it fair?"
"Because he left me. He doesn't get to hang around as a reminder. He made his choice. Why won't he just leave and stay gone?"
Regina looked at Emma with sympathy and understanding.
"Is that why you were drinking earlier," Regina gently asked.
"Yeah," Emma said, unable to make eye contact with Regina. "After you left me–"
"I already told you I left, I didn't leave you."
"I didn't know where you were. People usually don't tell me where they're going, but that's because they never come back. I thought...maybe you took Henry and were trying to get away from me."
Regina took a deep breath and held it for a moment, tense as she struggled with what to do next.
"Okay," Regina breathed out. "Would it better if I let you know where I'm going, even if it is just to work?"
"Well, when you put like that I sound so clingy," Emma frowned just shy of a pout.
"Yes, well, you've proven to be quite a handful."
Emma cocked her head to the side and stared at Regina, unamused.
"I'll make you a deal," Regina started after a few seconds. "I'll leave you a note any time I leave before you wake up. That is...if you haven't decided to stay at your apartment. Know that you always have options, Emma."
"I...I want to stay here."
"Okay. Then here's the other part of the deal, no drinking while you're staying here."
Emma mulled it over for a moment.
"Okay. I can do that."
"Good. Now get some sleep. I'm sure you'll need it considering the headache you'll likely have tomorrow."
Regina stood and headed toward the door when Emma stopped her.
"Wait, Regina..."
Regina turned and patiently waited for Emma to continue.
"Thanks," Emma quietly, almost sheepishly, said with a lopsided smile.
Regina returned it with a warm but rare smile of her own.
"You're welcome," Regina said. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Regina."
Emma's smile spread into a grin as she watched the brunette leave. Her eyes glittered when the drifted from Regina's dark hair down to the woman's ass. She waited until Regina closed the door before she removed her glasses for bed, determined not to miss a thing.
Like the morning before, Regina had prepared breakfast and Henry joined her in the kitchen only seconds after she set out his plate. Neither of them spoke a word to each other aside from their usual "good morning" greeting until Henry had shoveled half of his breakfast into his mouth.
"Did you talk to Emma," Henry asked before he swallowed his food.
"I did," Regina relied before she brought a small bite of her own breakfast to her mouth.
"There's a lot of stuff happening with her, isn't there."
Yet again when it came to Henry, he hadn't asked the question. He stated it like a fact.
"Yes," she slowly said. "She needs...a lot of attention."
"Attention from you?"
"In general. But...she came here so yes, attention from me. Henry...I really want this to work, but I- I'm not sure I can give you and Emma the same amount of attention," Regina sadly and apologetically said.
"I get it," Henry said with a quick nod. "She needs someone, right? Someone to kind of look out for her?"
"I believe so. She's her own person, but she's been hurt a lot."
"Okay, so how do we fix it?"
"Well, I think it might be better if...I focus on Emma."
Henry stopped eating and looked up seriously at Regina.
"I agree."
Regina looked awestruck and was stunned into silence. She took a minute to process what her son had said. He had agreed with her. He had readily agreed that Emma needed more attention than him and even if he had yet to understand what that meant for their living arrangement. He seemed on board with anything that would help Emma.
"Well, in order to do that," Regina cautiously started, unsure of how Henry would accept her plan. "I think it might be best if you stay with your grandparents."
Henry seemed to take a minute to think that over.
"Okay," he agreed again.
"Really? You would be okay with that?"
"Yeah, you just said Emma needs more attention. Give it to her. The sooner we fix whatever problems she has, the better things will be for all of us."
"You understand that I'm not abandoning you."
"Mom, I know you'd never leave me."
"And you know that I'm not choosing Emma over you, right? Not really."
"Mom," he chuckled. "Emma needs help, more than I do. You keep telling me I was always difficult growing up, but I'm pretty sure Emma takes the cake when it comes to difficult children."
Regina cracked a small smile at that.
"You're still difficult at times," Regina playfully warned him with a pointed finger. "But yes, she's something else."
"You made a promise to me not to use magic for small stuff, only for good things and if anyone's in danger. Well, now you can promise me that you'll help Emma. Even if that means I have to stay somewhere else."
Regina smiled at him and reached out to run a hand through his hair.
"I'm so proud of you."
"Does this mean I earned myself a really big, really cool Christmas present? Maybe a real sword or a puppy?"
Regina chuckled and pulled her hand away from Henry's hair.
"We'll see," Regina warned in a tone that told Henry not to get his hopes up.
Henry beamed and got up. He went into the kitchen and dropped his plate in the sink. He ran water over it for a few seconds, turned off the tap, and headed back toward Regina.
"Um, I know he's only supposed to see me on weekends, but do you think I could stay with Neal instead of Grandma and Gramps?"
Regina slowly released a tense sigh.
"If that's what you want, I'll drop you off at his apartment after school," Regina answered.
"Really," Henry excitedly perked up and smiled, hopeful.
"You're helping Emma as much as I am by letting me take care of her without you here," Regina said. "The least I can do is let you stay where you want."
"Awesome!
Regina laughed and stood.
"Time for school. Let's go," she said.
Regina guided Henry away from the dining room and into the foyer. She stopped at the end table and grabbed a pen and a fancy note card from her personal stationary that she rarely used but still kept in her study. She wrote out a note addressed to Emma while Henry stood beside her and watched. She signed it and quickly left it on the kitchen island before she came back to the end table, grabbed her purse, and gently pushed Henry out the door with her.
"Why'd you leave it in the kitchen," Henry asked as Regina locked up behind them.
"You know Emma. She can't go five minutes without eating. The kitchen is the first place she'll go."
Henry smiled and Regina turned away from the door once she had locked it. The two of them went to the Benz and left for the day.
About an hour after Regina and Henry left, Emma was awake and, as predicted, went straight into the kitchen.
Though her target was the refrigerator, she spotted the off-white note card propped up by a vase occupied by orchids. The card had a message written by a beautiful and elegant hand. Emma had only seen calligraphy look as nice as the writing presented to her and when she realized who the note was from, her shock grew tenfold before she smiled and read it.
Emma,
Took Henry to school and went to work. If you haven't gone through the entire kitchen yet, there's a plate of food on the counter by the microwave I made for you. I'll be home around five. Try not to get into any trouble while I'm gone. I'll reward you with your favorite meal for dinner if you don't. Hopefully incentives will be enough motivation for you to finally listen to me.
– Regina
Emma's smile only brightened after she read the note, especially when she looked up to see the plate on the counter Regina had mentioned. She set the note down in front of the orchids and went to the plate. She uncovered it to reveal pancakes with a side of two sausage links and three bacon strips.
"Oh, hell yes," Emma said to the empty house and put the plate in the microwave.
She wasted no time before she heated up the plate. Once she ate it, she cleaned not only her dish but the one Henry had left in the sink and set them in the drying rack.
She turned back to the island and bit her bottom lip as she smiled, her eyes focused solely on the note. She knew Regina had agreed to leave them for her if she wasn't awake to know Regina and Henry had left, but part of her didn't expect her to stay true to her word. Regina owed her absolutely nothing after all and it wasn't like Emma had ever felt she was worth it to be left notes and such. She'd even confessed that to Regina that no one else ever bothered to tell her they were leaving before Emma was on her own again.
At eighteen, the first time around, Emma might not have ever done what she did next even if someone had cared enough to leave a note, but that time around she wanted to keep the reminder that maybe she wasn't so worthless after all. So Emma took the note and went up to the guest room. She opened the only drawer to the bedside table and placed the note inside it with a smile that had yet to fade. She closed the drawer and headed back downstairs with her cell phone in hand with the screen ready for her to type out a text. She started to compose one after she reached the bottom of the stairs and blindly walked into the living room, her eyes cast down on what she typed.
"Thanks for the note and even bigger thanks for breakfast. So good! By the way, do you even know what my favorite meal is?"
After a few minutes, once she'd found a movie she felt like watching, a reply came from "Hot Ass Mayor." When she'd changed her ringtone, she also updated some of her contacts.
"I'm glad you liked it. Henry only got one sausage link and one bacon strip. Consider yourself lucky, Miss Swan. Unless being eighteen again has changed things, your favorite meal is my lasagna. Has that changed?"
Emma grinned and instantly typed out a reply.
"I've never had your lasagna. 18 again , remember? But I'd be willing to try it. And who's running this town if you're spending your time texting me? Regina, are you shirking your responsibilities for some girl? I foresee a small town scandal in the works."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you. Headlines reading 'Mayor Mills Seduces Young Girl'. I'm sure they'd leave out the part where that young girl sought after that unsuspecting older woman."
"Still texting! If there's no work to be done, why not just come home and watch a movie with me? It's boring here."
"Ah, but there IS work to be done. Another reason you should consider yourself lucky. I've had to read the same paragraph three times now because of your need to distract me."
"You think I'm distracting? You have to be more interested in the distraction than what you're doing if that distraction is actually distracting you. Just saying."
"You always have such a way with words, dear."
"Term of endearment. Another sign that you like me."
"The longer I spend talking to you, the less I like you."
"Then why do you keep responding?"
Emma knowingly smirked as she waited for Regina's response, but after five minutes without a single text from Regina she started to feel as worthless as she had before she found the note.
But then her phone started to ring with the default ringtone and when she looked down to check the caller ID, she saw that she was receiving a call from "Hot Ass Mayor".
Emma quizzically furrowed her brow before her lips curled into a small smile and she answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Why do I have a feeling you can't be left alone for even an hour," Regina said, only slightly agitated and more playful.
"Maybe because I like getting to you," Emma replied as her grin from earlier returned.
"Well, I've got a lot to do today," Regina started. "Fortunately for us both, the morning only consists of paperwork otherwise I wouldn't have sent those texts in the first place."
"Sure," Emma sarcastically drew out the word.
Emma could feel Regina roll her eyes on the other end of the line when the brunette hadn't said anything right away.
"There's something I'd like to talk to you about in person," Regina said after a moment. "If you refrain from sending texts and keeping me from my work, I'll come home for lunch and make you something. Think you can handle that?"
Emma wanted to keep up the banter, but she fell back on her old habit of assuming the worst and frowned.
"Is what you want to talk about bad? Did I do something wrong?"
"No," Regina quickly and calmly assured her. "No, Emma, it's not you."
"Are you sure? I can just go. I can find my apartment and just leave you and Henry alone, really."
"Emma, it's fine," Regina said. "It's actually about Henry. Everything is okay, but I don't want you to be surprised or upset about my decision. Will you agree to have lunch with me? I promise it's nothing bad. At least, I'm hoping you won't mind."
"You really aren't making me feel any better. Why can't you just tell me now?"
"Because it's not something I want you to have to deal with by yourself or hear over the phone. Can you trust me when I say it's not bad and it's not your fault?"
"I don't trust anyone," Emma said as she continued to frown.
"I know. Please, Emma. I'll be there around noon. That's the earliest I can leave the office. We'll talk and I won't leave until I know you're okay with everything. Does that seem reasonable?"
Emma sighed and hesitated as she thought about it.
"Okay," Emma quietly said. "Can you make me meatball sub?"
Regina lightly laughed.
"The meatballs will take too long. I make them myself. I can make it for you later, but not for lunch."
"Then will you make me a chicken salad sandwich? You already have leftover chicken in the fridge."
"That I can do."
Emma smiled.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. See you at noon."
"'Kay."
"See you later, Emma," Regina said with a teasing smile Emma could hear in the sound of her voice.
"Bye, Regina" Emma smiled in return.
Three movies later, a key turned in the front door and Regina walked into the house. Ten minutes past noon and Emma realized Regina only made deals and promises she planned, and always seemed, to keep.
"Emma?"
Emma heard Regina call out from the foyer and caused her smile. Instead of making Regina come to her, she got off the couch and went to Regina.
"Hi," Emma smiled as she took Regina's purse and set it down on the end table before she helped the woman out of her coat.
Regina moved slowly as Emma started to remove her coat, confused as to why Emma would do such a thing. She let it happen nonetheless, but she turned to Emma as the blonde hung the coat on the rack and stared at the teen with confusion and surprise in her brown eyes.
Emma's smile widened and when she spoke, she let Regina know that she had read her mind.
"You're making me lunch and hopefully dinner. The least I can do is make your day a little easier. What better way then to cater to you a little?"
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to impress me," Regina said before her face light up and her lips curled into an alluring grin.
"If I was trying to impress you, would it be working," Emma asked while her eyes flirtatiously glittered.
"Maybe," Regina played along with her ever present grin. "If you weren't eighteen."
Emma rolled her eyes.
"I'll sweep you off your feet sooner or later," Emma said as she followed Regina into the kitchen.
"You're that confident in yourself, dear?"
"I wouldn't be if you didn't respond so well to my flirting."
"Mm, but that's all it'll be."
"I don't mind," Emma said as she stepped up behind Regina as the brunette stood at the kitchen counter.
Emma pressed her front against Regina's back and smirked as she rested her hands on the counter top on either side of Regina.
"The way I flirt makes things interesting," Emma purred.
"My dear, you couldn't handle the way I flirt," Regina warned with a grin as she grabbed Emma's hands and removed them from the counter while she turned to face the blonde.
"I doubt that," Emma challenged and prevented Regina from walking away from her.
Regina looked over Emma's determined features and, after a moment, grinned with more mischief and lust that resembled more of her Evil Queen side. Her eyes darkened and she slowly walked Emma backward into the edge of another counter.
"That's because I'm holding back," Regina said in a voice lower than any tone she'd ever used with Young Emma.
Regina's eyes slowly fell from Emma's down to the blonde's stomach as she brought her hand to Emma's right hip. Once she lightly touched Emma there, her eyes followed the path her hand made up Emma's side.
When Regina's hand reached the spot underneath her right breast, Emma's breath hitched.
Regina's eyes flicked up from her own hand to look into Emma's eyes.
"You're too young for me," Regina quietly said, her lips tantalizingly close to Emma's. "And..."
Regina paused in her speech while her hand traveled up to Emma's hair with a feather-light touch.
Emma's eyes fluttered shut as soon as she felt Regina play with her ponytail in a way that sent tingles down her spine and caused goosebumps to appear all over. It didn't take long before the sensation reached her nipples and hardened them into visible peaks through her shirt.
"You have no idea what I'm capable of," Regina huskily finished.
Emma's eyes instantly shot open and focused on Regina's. Not long after she looked into Regina's eyes, she grinned at the brunette.
"Better be careful," Emma playfully warned. "Wouldn't want to send the wrong signals, right?"
Regina's eyes returned to their normal hue and her lips parted in shock.
Emma bit her bottom lip as she grinned and gently pushed past Regina to free herself from her sandwiched position between the other woman and the counter.
"You are impossible," Regina said as she turned around and faced Emma as the blonde went to the refrigerator.
Emma looked over her shoulder and chuckled.
"And you said you know me," Emma teased. "I might be a handful, but I'm not helpless. I can manage."
"That you can," Regina said more to herself than Emma, though Emma heard every word, before she cleared her throat and smoothed out her pantsuit. "I came here to discuss Henry."
"You said that on the phone this morning," Emma said as she spun on her heels, her back to the island.
Emma placed her hands on either side of herself on the island counter top and pulled herself up on it. She slid back a little, but still let her legs dangle over the edge of the counter with the backs of her thighs pressed down on the counter top.
"Yes, well," Regina started as she walked around the island and went to the refrigerator. "I've talked with him and, due to my struggles to take care of him and watch over you, if he stays here it may just hurt him more than he and I want it to help him."
"That's my fault, isn't it," Emma stated with furrowed brows and a frown as she looked over her shoulder at Regina.
"It's nobody's fault, dear," Regina said as she pulled open the refrigerator and searched for what she needed to make Emma's lunch.
"But I'm a handful."
"Henry is willing to let you stay. He has places he can go," Regina said as she reached into the fridge and pulled out the chicken.
"He shouldn't have to go. This is his house," Emma said, crestfallen and guilty. "I should go."
"Emma," Regina seriously said as she placed the chicken on the island counter top behind the blonde, her eyes focused on the teen as she spoke. "You came here for a reason. Henry understands that. He's okay with going somewhere else so I can focus on you."
"Where's he gonna go?"
"Neal's," Regina said and never looked away from Emma.
Emma scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Of course he is," the blonde grumbled.
"It was Henry's choice, not Neal's. I suggested his grandparents' place, but he prefers to spend his time elsewhere right now. I'm not going to deny him what he wants when he's letting himself be tossed aside for his mother. Are you?"
"Like I said," Emma raised her voice. "I'll go. He shouldn't have to suffer."
"He'll continue to suffer until you reverse the spell. Only when you fix whatever it is that's bothering you will he be able to feel loved by you!"
Emma looked so wounded, her mouth agape and her eyes wide as she stammered out sounds of unintelligible shock.
Regina took a deep breath and released it in a long sigh to calm herself.
"He's doing this for you," Regina added in a softer tone.
"I didn't ask him to," Emma said as though she had a lump in her throat, the words partially choked out.
"You didn't have to. He's a good boy, Emma. He knows you're in pain, as do I. He wants to help and he thinks my idea is just what you need. Let someone take care of you for once. Even if that happens to be your twelve year old son."
Emma looked down, her chin almost to her chest.
"Besides," Regina started again. "It's a little ridiculous to expect an eighteen year old to put her son first, especially since you technically haven't even given birth to him yet."
"He deserves better than me," Emma quietly admitted, her voice grittier than it had ever been since she'd cast the spell.
"No," Regina shook her head and walked around the island to stand in front of Emma. "You're a good person, Emma, and a good mother. You do love him and you're more than willing to fight for him. He needs a hero to look up to and that usually isn't me. You're strong, stronger than me because my strength usually comes from revenge and other dark places. He's lucky to have you in his life."
"But...what good am I doing to prove that right now?"
"It's going to take some work, but I'm willing to put in the time if you are. Let Henry do this for you and show him how thankful you are by reversing the spell."
Emma looked down and sheepishly nodded before she sniffled.
"God," Emma choked out. "Spells. I still can't believe this is real."
"Still," Regina repeated with a furrowed brow.
Emma snapped her head up and looked at Regina with wide eyes. Within a second, the wide eyed expression turned into Emma's usual demeanor.
"Yeah, I mean, since this happened," Emma motioned a hand over herself. "It's hard to think this isn't just a normal day in two thousand one."
Regina narrowed her eyes to consider Emma, suspicious. After a moment, she relaxed and let it go.
"I was thinking of getting a Christmas tree at the end of the week. We can pick Henry up from school, pick one out, and decorate it," Regina said as she walked back around the counter before she started to cut up the chicken.
"Um, sure?"
"Usually Henry and I get the tree a little earlier, but with everything that's happened our priorities changed."
"And you want me to help with all of this?"
"Of course," Regina said when she looked up at Emma.
"I'll just screw everything up. It's your tradition with Henry. I don't want to get in the way," Emma said.
"Like Henry would let you get out of it," Regina chuckled. "I'm sure he would have wanted to do this with you last Christmas, but there was always some threat to the town. And at one time that threat was me."
"You're okay with that? The Christmas tree stuff, I mean?"
"I wasn't okay with it then, but now...we're stuck with each other. Henry binds us together so we're going to have to deal with family holidays and things like co-parenting. Nothing can change that. It is what it is."
"You don't sound happy about that," Emma noted.
Regina smiled, but kept her eyes on the task at hand.
"The last eight months have been interesting. I can't say I hate that we're stuck with each other, but I also think it's a little soon to associate 'happy' with the experience. I've never used that word to describe anything."
"Not even about Henry," Emma asked, genuinely surprised.
"No," Regina said. "Not that he doesn't make me ha– ...Anything that made me happy, anything I loved, was always taken from me. I've already admitted that I love Henry and I don't regret that, but it's nearly cost him his life on at least two occasions."
Emma's eyes slowly showed understanding.
"You're still afraid of losing him."
Regina stopped what she was doing and looked up. She flashed her fake, politician smile she'd often used when speaking with Adult Emma before she replied.
"Every day."
"You can't live your life being afraid," Emma said as she spun on the counter top to face more toward Regina. "That's going to be what keeps you from being truly happy."
"Don't you know," Regina asked with a sad smile. "I'm a villain. Villains don't get happy endings."
Emma reached out and placed her hand over Regina's.
"You stopped being a villain the day you decided other things matter more than vengeance and death and causing others pain," Emma told her.
Regina's breath caught in her throat when she felt Emma touch her and looked straight into green eyes.
"I see you, Regina," Emma smiled at her. "The real you."
Speechless. Regina was speechless. She had no idea if Emma meant what she said from her eighteen year old self's perspective or if there was something Emma hadn't told her, something about the spell. Either way, Emma had robbed her of words. What a thief.
Regina shook her head to break out of her thoughts and cleared her throat. She finished cutting up the chicken and started to add the other ingredients to the chicken salad.
"So, you can accept that Henry will be in Neal's care," Regina asked.
Emma took a deep breath.
"Yeah, I'll live," she said and smiled, sincere though it was small. "I trust your decision."
Regina smiled back.
"Okay then," Regina said before she checked the time.
"Once I'm done with the chicken salad, I'll leave you to make your sandwich. But I recommend putting in the refrigerator and letting it chill for a while before eating it. It tastes better cold."
"Noted."
Emma stepped closer to Regina and grazed her front against the other woman's side. She leaned over the counter a bit and snatched a strip of chicken. She smirked as Regina turned to her and watched her eat it, displeased and unimpressed.
"Thank you," Emma said with her mouth full of food.
"Mhmm," Regina playfully hummed her disapproval of Emma's action.
Though it would have been easier for Neal to pick Henry up from school and take him back to his apartment himself, Regina preferred to hand Henry over in person. She trusted that her son wouldn't run off like he had to find Emma in Boston over a year ago because he wanted to be with Neal, but she still had to know he made it there safely regardless.
When she walked up to the building with Henry, she spotted the dented yellow bug she used to hate seeing around town. As soon as she saw it, she narrowed her eyes at the car and resisted the urge to growl.
Henry looked up at Regina when he felt her grip his shoulder and saw her expression directed at Emma's car in the parking lot. He shrugged it off under the impression that Regina never liked Emma's car and had only recently started to acceptEmma herself. Once they were at Neal's apartment, however, Henry soon realized the truth behind Regina's disdain.
Neal opened the door and smiled at Henry.
"Hey, buddy," Neal greeted and ruffled his hair within seconds.
"Hey," Henry smiled back and walked into the apartment.
Neal and Regina watched him go inside and make his way to the kitchen.
Just like your birth mother, Regina thought with a small smile.
After a few seconds, Neal turned back to Regina and the woman's smile quickly disappeared.
"So," Neal drew out the word and awkwardly shifted from foot to foot. "Everything okay?"
"It will be," Regina replied. "Make sure he's well fed and gets to school on time. I'll pick him up from school on Friday, keep him for the night, then you can have him for the weekend like you usually do."
"Why are you gonna take him on Friday?"
"Family time," Regina tersely answered with a sharp stare directed at Neal. "Though it's really none of your business."
"It is when it's my family."
Regina clenched her jaw for a moment and straightened out her rigid posture even more before she spoke again.
"Henry may biologically be your son and he made want to get to know you for that reason, but do not mistake him or Emma for your family when you decided to walk away from them."
"I did that for Emma! Because of your curse! I didn't even know about Henry. If I had I would have–"
"Being there for Henry is being there for Emma," Regina argued. "You made a decision on her behalf when you chose to listen to some stranger who claimed she needed to fulfill her destiny. Of all the ways to make sure she did that, you chose to set her up for a crime you committed."
"Like I said, I did that forher. I had her best interest in mind."
"Oh, right. Carrying your baby for nine months while in prison for your mistake. That's what was in her best interest."
"...Why are you here, Regina," Neal growled through gritted teeth.
"I'm here because my son wanted to be here instead of going to his grandparents'."
"Why? What's going on that he can't stay with you? You think you're so much better than me, especially when it comes to taking care of Henry. Why does he need to go anywhere other than your place?"
"In case your pea brain doesn't remember, Emma isn't exactly in the best state of mind to help care for him."
Neal's expression softened in realization.
"Right. The spell," he said. "Is she okay?"
"She'll be fine. She has someone looking out for her," Regina dismissively answered.
"Wait, she's staying with you, isn't she? You're looking out for her?"
"Yes."
"What the hell are you getting out of it?"
"You think I'm looking out for her simply because there's something for me to be rewarded with for my time spent?"
"Uh, yeah," Neal said in a "duh" tone of voice.
"Well, like you and Emma, I also know what it's like to be abandoned. But unlike you, I know how to be there for someone when no one else is."
"You're staying with her?"
Regina hesitated as she thought about how much to share with the man responsible for some of Emma's issues. After only a couple of seconds, she replied.
"I have no intention to leave her," Regina said with all seriousness.
Neal stood there with his mouth wide open. He blinked several times throughout his silence, but had yet to form a response. With a furrowed brow, he suspiciously stared at Regina with a clear distrust for the woman.
"Listen, Mr. Cassady, I'll remind you again and again if I have to that Emma is no longer your concern. She is not yours and she doesn't seem to want your help. Now, take care of the one person who actually wants you around. Henry."
Regina turned and took a step toward the stairs before she remembered something and spun back around to face Neal.
"Oh, and I want Emma's car parked outside of my house by eight AM tomorrow."
"It's actually my–"
"It actually isn't," Regina quickly shot back. "As far as I understand it, you gave her that car. She's driven it around for the last eleven years from place to place and she's made hers. That car will be returned to her without any further discussion. If the car isn't at my house tomorrow morning, I'll take my chances with bringing Henry home and dealing with both him and Emma myself.
"It seems you have a decision to make, Mr. Cassady. And I guarantee that if you don't choose Henry, I will come back here and give you a taste of my overprotective personality. Think about that."
Regina turned again to leave and that time made it all the way down the stairs and out the apartment building door without the need to say anything else to Neal.
Neal shut the door and puffed out a sigh, seemingly worn out and frustrated with the situation.
Henry, however, stood out of sight in the kitchen with a smile on his face and a glass of juice in his hand.
A/N: Leave a review so I can know what you liked or didn't like. I'll try to have the next chapter or two updated later today or sometime tomorrow. Just in case that doesn't happen, Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays! :)